The grape vine is a tree climber with lobed leaves and small clustered green
flowers. The fruit is a berry, fleshy and ovoid, up to 2.5 cm wide; dark purple,
red, yellow or green in colour. It varies in taste from sour to sweet. There
is glucose and fructose in the grapes, providing the basis for the alcohol
content. Grapes are not only used for wine making,
but can also be eaten fresh or dried as raisins. Raisins are an important
food because they store well over a longer time.

Wild grapes were found at many early Near Eastern sites, demonstrating their
importance long before domestication. Wild grapes are smaller than domesticated
ones, but are also suitable for wine making. The earliest indications of grape
cultivation date to about the Palestine Chalcolithic period and the Early
Bronze Age. Finds of grapes in Egypt belong most likely to the domesticated
type, since Egypt lies outside the region of the wild grape.

Bunches of grapes are very popular motifs in the art of the New Kingdom
(about 1550-1069 BC).
(click on the images to see a larger picture)